Oldham RLFC 28 – 12 Newcastle Thunder

There was no fairytale end to Joe Brown’s 200th game for Thunder on Sunday afternoon, as the club suffered their first away defeat of the season at Oldham.

On a scorching hot afternoon at the Vestacare Stadium, small lapses in defence offered the Roughyeds the opportunities they needed to score, on an afternoon that was far from free flowing as far as points were concerned.

Neither side were able to open the scoring in a nip and tuck opening quarter until 17mins, when Oldham crossed for a converted try thanks to Castleford Tigers’ Kieran Gill.

Looking to make a solid response, Thunder laid siege to Oldham as they looked to get back level, piling on plenty of attacking pressure but unable to make that tell.

Having rode out the Thunder storm, Roughyeds doubled their advantage after breaking out of their defensive duties, as a successful offload close to the line found the hands of Danny Bridge and created the gap he needed to score.

Finding profit in attacks down Thunder’s edge Oldham took a 16-0 lead into the break thanks to Dave Eccleston’s 36 minute try and were able to maintain their momentum in the second half, as Phil Joy added another converted try.

Thunder to their credit were still looking to make an inroad to get themselves back into the game and that breakthrough came on 50mins thanks to Ali Blair.

Taking the ball around half way Thunder’s wing man had plenty of work to do in a narrow channel, but used his pace to break the line, before cutting back inside of Luke Hooley for a well taken try.

With a successful Tom Shaw conversion reducing the arrears to 16 points and with half an hour to chase down the gap, Thunder had hope of being able to preserve their excellent 2018 away form.

Sadly for the visitors, loosing Mo Agoro to the sin bin for holding down and the lethargic rate of scoring being maintained throughout the rest of the half did nothing for their hopes and when the next try came, it sealed the result for Oldham.

With 10 minutes to go Craig Briscoe made it 28-6, before Lewis Young was able to grab one back for Thunder with the final play of the game, pouncing on a loose ball and scampering away for Thunder’s second try of the day.

Shaw maintained his reliable record from the tee for 28-12, but it was ultimately an afternoon to forget for Jason Payne’s men.

Focus now turns to the Magic Nigh Out and the visit of Bradford Bulls on Friday May 18.